More From View from the Wing

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

Clearly, many Mexicans don’t have a sense of humor, as Top Gear has already demonstrated. It may be a nationalist comment (similar to Obama prattling on about how Americans are the greatest people on earth) but it’s not racist as one, it had nothing to do with race as it applies to all Mexicans wgatever their race and, two, it was a statement of fact that Mexico crashed out.

On the ExIm Bank question, I don’t see how US taxpayer subsidies for Boeing is in any way related, however reprehensible they may be.

I’m sad to see you continuing on with the giraffe = racism thing Gary. And I see nothing racist about KLM’s tweet. I’m of German heritage and would like to think I’d not find it offensive to have a picture of a sausage or lederhosen along with Wiedersehen. I don’t get the relevance of the bank loan to what I think is a pretty novel tweet.

@AS I have recently criticized Ex-Im bank more generally, and it doesn’t just subsidize airlines it subsidizes Boeing as the primary recipient of the subsidized purchases (other US companies like General Electric receive this corporate welfare as well).

Both KLM and Boeing are beneficiaries of taxpayer-subsidized financing.

I don’t think Mexico fans have much room to talk since their fans shout an anti gay slur at the opposing teams players many times over the course of a game. ESPN even apologized that viewers had to hear the Mexico fans shouting that. And secondly, it looked like about half of the Mexico fans in the stadium were dressed up in sombreros or decorative head dresses at the game. So what is wrong with this tweet?

I’m South American and I thought it was funny. How can it be racist when even the Mexican fans in the stadium were wearing sombreros and fake handlebar mustaches? It’s a stereotype, yes, and one that Mexicans themselves find humor in and perpetuate — with the exception of a few humor-less ones, obviously.

Now, it was clearly a Tweet that lacked any sportsmanship, but that’s a different story. And to be frank, trash-talk is part of the World Cup culture. You can’t take such comments in a vacuum.

Finally, HUGE respect to the Mexican team who had a fantastic tournament and gave us (Brazil) a run for our money! And Chile, too — I was heartbroken that we sent them home. Torn between my team and a very worthy opponent.

GE…= me angry. My little business pays more in taxes than GE does. That pisses me off. Either the taxes/incentives are good for all or they are not…be it in corporate or private citizenship. Me funding GE…really?

1. Humor is good when it is at somebody else’s expense and does not involve me personally or my ethnic group.
2. An ethnic group may poke fun at itself but that does not give others a license to do the same at their cost.
3. We laugh at many things in private, but to be politically correct, we feign displeasure when others do it in public. Sometimes the private thoughts bubble to the surface in our unguarded moments of exuberance.
4. Some of us are too quick to draw the race card for every little thing to show our victim mentality in an attempt to make others feel bad about/sympathetic towards us.

First of all, I am Mexican and I do not believe it is racist. However it is in very poor taste (and not funny at all) that a company that does business in Mexico for so many years issues a comment like that.

The feelings that arise from a World Cup tournament may not be understood by many, but you do not make fun at someone having just lost a game. It is probably ok for an individual to do so, but not so from a corporation issuing such comment through their corporate channel of communication.

The KLM tweet was funny, is not racist and I’m really sick of hearing attention-seeking whiners on the internet crying racism over every little thing. If France lost and the tweet said “Bon Voyage” it wouldn’t be any different.

Given that KLM and Aeromexico are both in SkyTeam, I wonder if it’d be too hard for them to find a picture of a KLM jet and an Aeromexico jet together. Specifically, I’m thinking of one with the AM aircraft pushing back or taking off. Then the same text could have been used without the specific, potentially-offensive graphic.

@mrredskin I know it happens, and Mexico lost. But again, KLM is a corporation doing business in Mexico. It is in poor taste, and corporations have a higher standard to be politically correct with their customers.

You may not agree, but KLM does, that is why they issued a formal apology.

@JD KLM doesn’t agree…an apology means absolutely nothing these days with pap like this. They were bullied by a bunch of whiny sniveling babies and found it easier to say ‘sorry’ than to call it what it is: ridiculousness.

@mrredskin +1…well said. If the fans of any football (soccer) team get this bent out of shape then perhaps they should stick with the little league stuff where no score is kept, everyone wins, and no accomplishments can be celebrated.

1. I’m not seeing connection here between lawn and Middle East. Check your logic.
2. It’s funny how you decided where I’m from based on a random muslim name I used as my handle. 🙂 But sure, allah is the greatest. )) Whatever. (I was LMAO for about 1.38 minutes)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

View from the Wing is a project of Miles and Points Consulting, LLC. This site is for entertainment purpose only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many (but not all) of the credit card offers on the site are from banks from which we receive compensation if you are approved. Compensation does not impact the placement of cards in content. Banner advertising, in contrast, is paid for by advertisers (we do not directly control the banner advertising on this blog).

I don't include all US credit card offers available on this site. Instead, I write primarily about cards which earn airline miles, hotel points, and some cash back (or have points that can be converted into the same).

Editorial Note: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are mine and not provided by any bank including (but not limited to) American Express, Chase, Citibank, US Bank, Barclaycard or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed what I have to say.

Comments made in response to posts are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered.